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[DJFloppyFish]

ooo cool just started that for the other ending

i like how this yuria is basically wearing the cainhurst set too

"hi im demon souls from bloodborne"

[Nillo]

I'm now on my fifth character playing this game and I can confidently say it's my favorite out of the ones I've played (i.e. all of them except for Bloodborne). DS3 > DS1 > DS2 for me. I don't want to give a rating to Demon's Souls yet because I never finished it but it's probably somewhere between 1 and 2.

I really like the level/world design in this game, it's really cool to look behind a corner and discover an entirely new area or a new NPC that you missed before. This happened a lot when I was playing a pyro and a swordsman at the same time and each of them would make a discovery that turned out to be super useful for the other character. This world is not as interconnected compared to Dark Souls 1, which is a shame, but it still offers plenty of options and shortcuts to unlock.

I'm conflicted about the NPCs in general - on one hand I love them (especially Siegward) and it's a joy to see their adventures, but on the other hand the solutions to these quests are simply too difficult to be completed without a guide. In fact I followed a guide on this character and I STILL couldn't finish Greirat's quest because I messed up by going into Irithyll Dungeon too early. So yeah, I like what they did here but I think they could have been a bit more merciful towards those who are playing blind, because in the current state of the game most people playing blind will fail every single quest.

I also think the multiplayer needs some work, particularly the PVP covenants. There's a very tight window for Watchdog invasions to occur because it happens in an area that is mandatory to complete. I think they need to add some optional areas which can be invaded by this covenant to reduce the stress of collecting covenant rewards. Farming proof of concords for the blue covenants takes an eternity too so you better hope you get summoned. Finally, while I like how easy it is to get the Red Eye Orb early in the game, the matchmaking is built in such a way that invading another world inevitably results in being ganked. It seems to prioritize large groups so you get into 1v3 situations all the time and it gets tiresome. I don't have the skills to fight at those odds so I quickly decided that invading is a waste of time.

The PVE experience is amazing tho. The bosses are by far the best of all the games, each of them brings something unique to the table (compare to DS2's bosses and the difference is very noticeable). I love the music and sounds of the game and how they're used to enhance the atmosphere. The song that plays when you use the Firekeeper Eyes is perfect and really captures the emotion of that moment.

In short, I think they have a solid foundation in this game and it just needs some balance work to become a masterpiece. Invasions need a buff, casters need an early game buff (lategame is fine), poise needs to be fixed, and overall the interaction between PVP covenants needs to be looked at. Singleplayer/co-op DS3 is the best of the series (ignoring Bloodborne, again, which I cannot play due to platform limitations).

ALSO: I'm kinda proud of myself for managing to avoid spoilers (including this thread) until I finished the game for the first time. I think that really helped my enjoyment of the game since I never quite knew what I was going to see next.

[s0]

I'm conflicted about the NPCs in general - on one hand I love them (especially Siegward) and it's a joy to see their adventures, but on the other hand the solutions to these quests are simply too difficult to be completed without a guide. In fact I followed a guide on this character and I STILL couldn't finish Greirat's quest because I messed up by going into Irithyll Dungeon too early. So yeah, I like what they did here but I think they could have been a bit more merciful towards those who are playing blind, because in the current state of the game most people playing blind will fail every single quest.

yeh, i agree. i fucked up every single npc questline on my first playthrough lol. otoh i don't think i've ever completed an npc questline blind in dks1 either, other than lautrec's because it's really obvious.

dks3 has some weird shit going on though. for instance, anri's questline (the aldrich slayer one) could be easy enough to complete if you just explored thoroughly. except for the part where you have to kill a hidden kidnapper disguised as a statue in the church. that is just way too obscure to figure out any other way than pure luck. otoh i guess that's what the message system is for haha.

that said, in the end i don't mind it. i'm one of those people who actually enjoy reading guides for games, and especially souls games. the amazing wiki probably played a part in why i became such a fan of demon's souls tbh (unfortunately subsequent souls wikis never reached that quality, esp the fextralife ones). and also having secrets that are really hard to find is kinda part of the souls experience for me. if i found everything first playthrough in a souls game i would be disappointed.

[s0]

woah i just visited archdragon peak for the first time (yeah yeah i know, shame on me). damn, this is such a rad area. it's like dragon shrine (which was visually one of my fave areas in dks2) except even cooler looking.

[DJFloppyFish]

I can't wait to hear the rest of your thoughts on that area. It's really good stuff.

My main problem with dark souls questlines in general is that all of them seem to rely on event markers that I'm too lazy to figure out by constantly checking in with characters. I liked how bloodborne kept track of time progression with the visual cue of the sky changing, more of that sort of thing would be nice. I greatly appreciate that moving quests forward isn't just a given though, it makes the world feel immensely more organic.   

Dark Souls 3 is so immaculately crafted. I'm at 80+ hours and I'm still marveling at how they've made a variety of builds not just feasible but actually fun. I like how the early game is basically an exercise in using the starter gear for maximum effect. I feel like they designed certain small encounters/ledges with the Assassin's spook spell in mind, just so you can immediately start using it and playing your role. I dunno, this time around starter classes just seem a lot more... distinctive?

[ag radley]

ugh holy fuck i just found out that if you leveled up in rosaria's fingers in a previous game cycle you can't summon heysel and get her gesture. fuck this shiiiiiiiit. this is what i'm talking about. the npc questlines are so fucking dumb and broken. i just want to 100% the game on this character but now i can't and i've put 100+ hours into it. god damn what stupid bullshit.

[SousaVilla]

t's unclear whether the lords of cinder are just people powerful enough to link the flame, or people who already did and must be sacrificed for an unkindled to link the flame.

ACKSHUALLY it's not really unclear at all. each of the lords has a backstory on how they became a lord (aldrich became a bloated monster by eating people, yhorm sacrificed himself to keep the "profaned flame" in check, the abyss watchers drank some ancient wolf blood, prince lothric is heir to a powerful line of kings, etc). so no they didn't already link the fire and it doesn't imply anywhere that they did. they are "lords" because they have the most powerful souls in the world.

the people who have previously linked the fire don't return from the kiln alive. their souls remain there to burn and the final boss is a physical manifestation of them.

That's not 100% true. Ludleth says, when you met him for the first time: "look not in bewilderment as I say, I linked the fire long ago become a lord of cinder." or something like that. Besides, Lord of cinder is the title Gwyn is given after linking the fire in Dks1, and lets not forget that in the opening scene of the game the Lords are inside coffins and are awakened with the bell (that could mean that they're only sleeping or have died normally though)

I dont know if Ludleth is the exception and the others didnt linked the fire, but I think the game is at least ambiguous about it. Prince Lothric certainly didnt linked the fire before.

The game is amazing. I'm in my second playthrough and I'm still avoiding major spoilers, but I hope the online messages will show some of the things I missed. It feels like a ton of things, lol.

[Tumetsu]

I think that everyone except Prince Lothric linked the fire. At least that would make sense since at least fir Abyss Watchers' the item description seems to imply that the wolf blood dried when they became lord of cinder meaning that it is something else than just title. That and Gwyn becoming lord of cinder afterwards linking the fire implies to me that lords really linked the fire in past.

However, I think that to become a lord of cinder aka being able to link the fire, one has to be powerful enough. That being said, it is a bit strange how the Soul of Cinder formed if it is supposed to be a amalgation of the past lords 

[Capntastic]

I have never really played Dark Souls for more than an hour (the first boss) and am planning to play Dark Souls to completion.  Wish me luck

[s0]

u can doit

[Capntastic]

I know there's a lot of finicky weird mechanics and I sort of don't want to be spoiled but I don't want to like, have to trial and error everything to prevent myself from having a super frustrating time.

Any Tips????  (Please don't spoil specific enemies or bosses or areas, just like "trying to play ____ build is pointless, try something else" pointers)

[s0]

Well I guess I could give you a quick rundown of how the stat system works, not like that's hidden info. The first two tips are: Never level Resistance and try to stay under 50% equipment load. Also pyromancer is the best starting class for most purposes.

You have four damage stats that basically define your build: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith. Those determine which weapons and spells you can use and how much damage they do (different weapons scale with different stats).  It's not really worth it leveling your main damage stat(s) beyond 50 due to diminishing returns. I don't think any of the basic builds focusing on a single stat are pointless to play, but STR and INT are probably easier than DEX and FTH. Also in my opinion melee is more interesting to play than magic, but even as a magic user you'll want to use some melee, so...

As far as the other stats

Vitality: Generally it's up to you how much you want to level this. If a lot of enemies can oneshot you then it's probably a sign that your VIT is too low. Level it to a point where you're comfortable with your HP pool.

Endurance: Unless you're a magic focused build, you'll wanna level this up a lot. Stamina is basically the most important resource in the game and the more you have of it, the better. You'll want to get END to 40 (after which point you stop getting stamina increases). Unless you want to wear some extremely heavy armor (the stat also increases your max equip load), leveling beyond that is not recommended.

Attunement: Only relevant for magic users. Level up enough so you have enough spell slots to comfortably cast the spells you want. I usually do fine with 4 or 5 slots.



Note: If you focus on magic, you should also put some points into DEX because it increases cast speed.

Note2: Like I said, different weapons "scale" with different stats (for instance a katana's damage would be affected by your DEX, while an axe would be affected by your STR). You can check out the scaling ranks in the stat window for a weapon. "S" is the best rank in typical Japanese game fashion, after that it goes alphabetically.

Note3 different magic types: Sorceries are affected by INT, miracles are affected by FTH and pyromancy isn't affected by any stats at all, but rather by upgrading your pyromancy flame. This makes pyro the perfect "side magic" for melee characters.

[Capntastic]

Why is pyromancer best class?

Also should I do deprived for my first run

Also what is the best starting item

Edit:  I was gonna do a big armor big sword guy since that seems to be the most common way I think people play

Edit2:  Since I might do multiple playthroughs to get ending and lore or whatever, after a point do you just max every stat out and basically play however you want, or are you locked into a build pretty early?

[s0]

Best starting gear and best balance of stats. There's no real advantage to starting as deprived unless you want to challenge yourself because everyone starts out at level 1 (unlike in other souls games).

The most useful starting item is the master key, but i wouldn't use that on my first playthrough personally. Other than that it's up to you.

[s0]

Edit:  I was gonna do a big armor big sword guy since that seems to be the most common way I think people play

That would be a Strength build.

Edit2:  Since I might do multiple playthroughs to get ending and lore or whatever, after a point do you just max every stat out and basically play however you want, or are you locked into a build pretty early?

The point where you can max every stat comes very very late (after multiple NG+ cycles or a ton of grinding) and I normally stop playing before that. You're not locked into a build that much until about mid-game, but because Dark Souls 1 doesn't have a respec option unlike 2 and 3, you can't experiment much either unless you want your build to be bad.

That said tho, the game is beatable with pretty much any build you could think of, so it's not a disaster if yours isn't perfect. You don't have to minmax to win, especially not in PvE. PVP is a different story, but you should be able to deal with random invaders anyway, unless they're cheating (which is unfortunately rampant in this game.)

[s0]

Some general gameplay tips:

Don't try to rely on your knowledge from other action RPG or hack n slash games. This game is very different from those games (tho if you play Monster Hunter, you'll probably have an easier time with the combat).

This is a game that rewards defensive play and often punishes unchecked aggression, this is especially true for new players. Also it takes a while to get a feel for the dodge mechanic. If you can't reliably dodge yet, always keep your shield up going into an encounter. Also never charge into groups of enemies and never mash the attack button, or any button for that matter. This game uses an "action queue" and it's impossible to "cancel" out of attacks.

Also, assuming you're playing on PC, use a controller.

[ag radley]

Any Tips?  (Please don't spoil specific enemies or bosses or areas, just like "trying to play ____ build is pointless, try something else" pointers)

you can do OP builds if you have a good literacy of the game (things like weapon stat scaling, familiarity with different weapons and weapon skills, that kind of thing), but for a first playthrough, you don't have to worry about that. a lot of doing very particular builds is only important in pvp and high ng+ challenge playthroughs and stuff. balanced levelling works fine for a first playthrough.

my main advice is to play as if you are actually the character in the game trying to survive. dark souls still has videogame logic, but not in the same way that other action rpgs do like sinclair said. keep your shield up when going through new areas. be wary of ambushes. don't be afraid to use firebombs and the other throwing items and consumables the game offers you. and pay attention to where you pick up items as everything is placed with designer intent. upgrade stones will be placed to suggest you need to upgrade your weapon. firebombs will be placed by enemies weak to fire. that kind of thing.

i remember an old interview where miyazaki (the main designer) was talking about how he wanted a game that would actually make you have to use cheap strategies to beat enemies. so be cheap, it's what the game is all about.

if you find yourself having trouble with a particular type of enemy, try either a different weapon, or a different strategy. some enemies are easy if you have a big 2hander that can stagger, some are easy if you have a quick rapier, some are easy if you use a shield, some punish shield use by shieldbreaking you, that kind of thing.

and like sinclair said, dodgerolling is a really important mechanic. dodges give you iframes so you can roll through attacks that would otherwise hit you. if you can hit an enemy and dodge its attacks, you can kill it.

Why is pyromancer best class?

Also should I do deprived for my first run

Also what is the best starting item

Edit:  I was gonna do a big armor big sword guy since that seems to be the most common way I think people play

Edit2:  Since I might do multiple playthroughs to get ending and lore or whatever, after a point do you just max every stat out and basically play however you want, or are you locked into a build pretty early?

pyromancy was a bit broken in previous games because basically it had low stat requirements meaning anyone could use it. i never got too into spells so i'm not sure on the details, but in 3, sorcery requires both faith and intelligence so it's more balanced. it just generally has a lot of high damage spells though so people like it.

yeah deprived is fine. starting class doesn't really matter unless you are going for a very specific pvp build or speedrun or challenge run or whatever where your minimum stats are significant.

starting item isn't important at all. in 1, the master key was very useful in 1, but in 3 there is no key item, so you can go with whatever.

i would personally go for a medium armor longsword/broadsword + shield guy, but that's just my taste. you need to be good with dodgerolling to make the best of a 2hand build. going sword and board gives you a ton of versatility and survivability. in pvp shielding is more dangerous because of shieldbreaks, but for pve it's great.

most people don't end up going much higher than 120 and that isn't close to maxing out anything. and like sinclair said, you don't really get locked in until mid-to-late game, but in 3 you get 5 stat respecs per new game cycle so there is plenty of room for experimentation.



edit: oh wait, do you mean you've played 3 but are now planning to play 1? or you haven't played any dark souls game?

[Capntastic]

I have played no Souls game

[Thomas Finch]

Level Resistance

[SousaVilla]

Some more tips:

- Don't level resistence, as others have said.

-Don't level intelligence and Faith. In my opinion, it's better if your first playthrough is with a melee build, since it'll teach you the fundamentals of the game better.

- In the mid game, choose a weapon to be your main. Dark souls is different than other rpgs, you can beat the game with your starting weapon and late game weapons are not necessarily more powerful, so choose based on subjective stuff like: "It looks cool", "I like the moveset", "I wanna play a ninja with a katana" etc.

- Look at the weapon attributes, you'll see the requirements. Level up your dex and str to meet the requirements and be able to wield it.

- Still on the weapons stats you'll see the scailling. Sometimes the weapon will scale with strenght really well, but not with dex, so that means you'll put your points into strenght, and vice versa. If it scales with both, you can level up both stats. (the community calls this a quality build)

- As you play, you'll unlock a way to upgrade your weapons. This is really important, so don't forget about it. Levelling up your weapons will raise the base damage but also the scailling.

- When you find a bow or a crossbow, wield it. It'll give you a ranged way to deal with enemies.

- Don't fight enemies in groups. If they're close to each other, use a bow to shot one from afar and pull him away from his pack.

- Don't go overweight. You'll start rolling slower and heavy, so pick lighter armor. (just like weapons, you can beat dark souls with amor sets from the first half of the game)

Don't forget to praise the sun as you play. May the flames guide thee.